Sophomore Caroline Conklin checked in with GoDuke.com during the Duke swimming team's training trip to Barbados. Stay tuned to GoDuke.com throughout the week for more updates from the Blue Devils in Barbados.

Hello from Barbados!!

After a long day of travel on New Years Day we finally arrived in Barbados! We've been enjoying the sun and sand here along with difficult workouts. The pool facility is a 10-lane, 50-meter pool which has been awesome. Everyone has been swimming well and getting some good training in. Our captains have been planning team activities after each afternoon practice. So far we've had two competitions: the first was a partner swim relay and the second was a team building relay. Team 1 (my team) is in the lead right now (updates to follow). Competition is pretty heated.

After two and a half days of intense training we all got the afternoon off! Some of us went on an excursion to snorkel and swim with sea turtles while the others stayed back at the hotel and chilled.

The excursion was awesome - 30 of us hopped on a boat for a four-hour snorkel tour. Our guides took us to two different snorkel spots. The first was to go swim with some sea turtles. One of our guides was in the water feeding the turtles so we got up close and personal with them! Some of us were more brave than others. The second spot was to look at some old ship wrecks and reefs. After the two spots we stopped at a beautiful beach to relax and eat some delicious food handmade by our guides! Chocolate cake was also served. Tricia Leeson was the DJ for the boat trip and her dance moves did not disappoint.